Palm Springs

"Palm Springs" is the second of three novellas written by Leslie Charteris included in the twenty-third Saint book The Saint Goes West published in 1942.

Plot
An alcoholic millionaire begins receiving death threats after he helps police track down (and kill) a gangster. He hires Simon Templar to "guard his body" which soon threatens to become a literal instruction. Meanwhile, Templar finds himself distracted by the millionaire's trio of live-in girlfriends. This story describes a character reading a mystery novel published by The Crime Club, American publishers of the Saint books, and ends with a metafictional reference to the Saint book series itself, as well as the Hays Production Code, a possible reference to the story's being a novelization of a film story treatment (see below).

Film adaptations
The story "Palm Springs" is based upon a story treatment Charteris wrote for RKO Pictures. The resulting film, The Saint in Palm Springs, was released in 1941 and starred George Sanders in his final appearance as Simon Templar. The script used in the film was substantially different from the original storyline. Charteris later novelized his original story for The Saint Goes West, making this, in essence, the first Saint novelization (more would follow based upon the television series). The film's plotline involves a collection of rare stamps and incorporates the character of Inspector Fernack, who does not appear in the novella.

In 1960, "Palm Springs" was adapted very loosely for the French film Le Saint mene la danse which was produced by Films Du Cyclope and Lux Films and starred Felix Marten as Templar. This marks, to date, the only time a Charteris story has been used as source material by two different productions.